The UK's physical landscapes

On a relief map of the UK, the land divides roughly in two:

• Uplands are mainly in the north and west: the Scottish Highlands, the Southern Uplands, the Lake District, the Pennines, Snowdonia and, in the south-west, Dartmoor. The highest point is Ben Nevis, at 1,345 m.
• Lowlands are mainly in the south and east: the Midlands, East Anglia, the Fens and the London Basin. Here the land is flatter and lower, broken by low hills such as the Chilterns and the North and South Downs.

A line from the mouth of the River Tees to the mouth of the River Exe roughly separates the two.

A geology map shows why: the uplands and lowlands sit on different rocks.

• Igneous rocks form when magma cools, such as the granite of Dartmoor and the Cairngorms.
• Metamorphic rocks are changed by heat and pressure, such as the slate of Snowdonia and the schist of the Highlands.
• Sedimentary rocks form from layers of sediment, such as chalk, clay, sandstone and limestone.

In the north and west, rocks are mostly older and harder igneous and metamorphic rocks, which resist erosion and form uplands. In the south and east, rocks are mostly younger and softer sedimentary rocks, worn down into lowlands.

The UK's main river systems start in the wet uplands and flow to the sea:

• The Pennines form a watershed: rivers such as the Tyne, Tees and Ouse flow east to the North Sea; the Eden and Ribble flow west.
• The Severn, the UK's longest river, rises in mid-Wales and flows to the Bristol Channel.
• The Thames flows east across the lowlands to London and the North Sea.

During the ice ages, glaciers covered much of the north and west, carving the deep valleys and sharp ridges of Snowdonia, the Lake District and the Scottish Highlands. Today, rivers, the sea and the weather keep shaping the landscape.